Reviews by scottoale:

550ml. brown embossed bottle with a short history lesson on back label and an inked bottling code on the glass. It pours a darkish honey amber-red with a finger of tan foam. Carbonation looks subtle but fine for the style.

The nose is malty and a tad spicy with some nice alcohol coming through as it warms. Notes of green apple, toffee, treacle, oak and spices give this brew a nice appeal. The flavor doesn't disappoint with good complexity and balance. It starts off sweet and malty with fruits aplenty. The fruit turns to toffee and treacle with a hint of bitter tobacco and a pleasant push of the alcohol, finishing on an oaky note. Nice and warming, especially as it warms considerably.

A medium plus body with complimentary carbonation give this brew a welcomed drinkability. It's a little on the expensive side but if your into Samuel Smith, you must try this one. I honestly think that some additional age on this brew would be a good thing, although it's more than good to go right now. (999 characters)

More User Reviews:

Aroma- fresh cut apples, yellow raisins, and seriously...radish. Very fresh and appealing. Very faint oxidative note if you look for it but hides well behind the more in-your-face nose salad. overall very appealing aroma.

Appearance- Lively carbonation, big creamy head with excellent retention, and poor clarity are all unexpected for the style. ruddy maple color. Once again, unusual for old ale, but appealing none the less.

Taste and mouthfeel - Quite sherry-like. Heavy malt sweetness draws flavor sensations to the tip of the tounge but solventy alcohol carries grassy hop flavor into the nose, making both disharmony and distraction. Sam Smith's trademark acetylaldehyde ester (usually endearing in my book) is not helping the situation and becomes rather shrill at this ABV. If you you can clear your mind of all this and force some beer to the mid palate, you can glean some notes of pear and a very thin caramel tone, but it is kind of lost in the mess. Medium-full bodied with high levels of carbonation but you won't notice that with astringent, even tannic, dryness bludgeoning your entire mouth through the painfully long finish and aftertaste. Yikes.

Overall- This is like somebody's first high ABV homebrew. I am usually a big fan of this brewery and the old ale style so I was really psyched when I finally got my hands on a bottle and paid pretty handsomely for it. I was ready to love this brew all night long but most of it will be destined for the drain. It really pains me to slam a Sam Smith beer when I so often defend them to other beer nerds, but this is just bad news. If you are an English Old ale fan, Fuller's vintage is cheaper, easier to find, and far superior. (1,697 characters)

stingo is one of those crazy styles thats different every time you see one, which is all too infrequently these days. this is one of the classics, maybe the longest running in our market, and just phenomenal in every way. whether they take some of this out and do it with cherries, or blend some lacto soured beer back into the mix, there is no denying its complexity, dried fruity finish, and tannic pucker uncommon in english beer. amazingly rich, malt forward but so interesting. not chocolate or caramel or normal english yeast, but somehow drawing on all of these. its more mature, aged in oak, and mellowed and better integrated than most others. i get a ton of cherry in the finish through the rich but tannic froth on the back end, and there is just a slight tartness like fruit from the tree a few weeks before its pickable. stingo means something different to every brewer, but for me this is the one by which all others must be judged. the original and still the best, brewed in 2011 was my bottle, thanks for this beauty. best in the morning or in the icy cold! (1,073 characters)

Poured into an imperial nonic a deep orange infused copper color with a very thin quick to faid off white head atop.Deeply fruity and cakey in the nose along with brown sugar,and sweet alcohol.somewhat sweet on the palate but not over done,brown sugar and dark fruits, and light green apple stand out the most,the alcohol plays a role as it warms.It's an English strong ale,it's some what sweet, but also refined and not in your face. (434 characters)

F-surprisingly light body. med. low carbonation. Smooth as Kobe Bryant after skanking on his wife (read: like a big diamond!).

O-One of the best big beers I have ever had. The alcohol is nicely balanced with the other traits. Ridiculuously smooth for such a big beer. Good luck trying to recreate a clone, as you need open air stone vats and centuries old oak barrels. (807 characters)

A: Dark reddish amber with a pretty big and thick pale beige head with a surprisingly good retention. Nice lacings stick along.

S: A somewhat edgy, yet also round smell. Noticeable spiciness and stingy mix of alcohol and a hint of vinegar. But underneath this edgy character lies a beautiful and smooth malty foundation of dark bread, caramel, fudge and coco powder. Rich cherry-like fruitiness, raisins and nuts. The composition of rich sweet aromas and hints of tartness is definitely interesting, but I don't know if it's all together successful.

T: A pleasant taste, but still hard to really get a grip on. The maltiness is dense and has a rather bready character. Caramel, fudge and some chocolate notes delivers much of the sweetness. Plenty of nutty aromas. Vinous fruits (cherries, red apples). The sweetness is balanced by a rather noticeable tart note, which is actually quite surprising but very pleasant. The beer has distinct "aged" character and it is obvious that is has been barrel aged (dusty cellar, some wet wood and that general taste of oak barrel). In the finish, there is a mild bitterness and a prominent taste of alcohol. Raisins, some herbs and spices rounds it off.

M: Medium body with a smooth texture. Initially, the carbonation is a little bit too much, but it settles nicely.

D: Not bad at all, but it's not excellent. From such a great brewery I think I would have expected more, but still recommended. (1,439 characters)

Whoa, Samuel Smith--one foot out of the box with a barrel-aged Strong Ale of towering alcoholic heights for its homeland.

Pours out a hazed twany liquid with a full three fingers of head. Thick aroma of brown bread, candied fruit, cake batter and a hint of ripe tropical fruit. Medium body is a little fluffy from the moderate-sized carbonation. Malt sweetness of caramel and Portuguese sweet bread tangles with an alcoholic warmth that resembles rum and dried papaya and passion fruit. Ghostlike buttery and yeasty tones go hand in hand with the cracker maltiness. Quick kick of wood tannin in the middle, then a little puckering dryness ensues. Alcohol stays on the breath but never becomes hot. Slightly dry finish lingers of wood and fruity alcohol.

A lovely creation here--kudos to Samuel Smith for making us beer geeks happy yet again. This is a yearly release so hunt this one down and cellar a bottle or two for the hell of it. (994 characters)

In my imperial pint glass, the beer was a cherry amber color with a medium-sized light tan head. It had an aroma of caramel and dark fruit. Taste of raisin, caramel, and a bit of late hops. Other than feeling a little sharp in my mouth, I very much liked this beer. I've always liked Samuel Smith; nice to see they're trying some different things. (347 characters)

T - Dark fruits like prunes and raisins and some spiciness from the phenols. There is also a hint of toffee/roasted caramel flavors. The finish is mostly the alcohol kick and some remnants of the initial dark fruits.

M - Pretty thin body and some medium carbonation make it a nice feel on the tongue.

O - Not the best beer I have had, but pretty tasty and easy to drink. (485 characters)

The beer pours a hazy orange color with a white head. The aroma is very fruity and is also has a lot of sugar notes. The flavor is strong cherry with some toffee and caramel malt sweetness. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. (275 characters)

Bottle from BevMo. Poured dark mahogany with nice red edges. Puffy, creamy off-white head. Minimal lacing on the dimpled mug. Flattish, sticky mouthfeel that is kind of thin. Malty caramel and some crystal malt, but everything is glossed over with a vanilla-oak flavor. Its very pleasant, but I wanted more hops or something to pop out. In all, it is a very nice beer, but left me kind of disappointed. (402 characters)

Pint bottle picked up today and enjoyed as a nightcap. Really excited to find this beer close to home.

Appearance- Pours a deep shade of ruby into my New Belgium snifter with lots of bubbles and two fingers of really tight tan head. Lots of sticky lacing and a fair amount of beading from the carbonation as well. Head retains quite well and gradually dies down to just a coating over the surface. Very nice appearance, particularly the retention on the head and the deep shade of crimson/ruby of the beer itself.

Smell- Lots of caramel in the nose, with some almost sugary dark fruits behind it. Wasn't really expecting to pick up on any fruitiness in this one, but after a couple whiffs, can't deny it for me. Also some vanilla and a bit of a bite of booziness following close after. Pretty nice smelling, but less going on than I was expecting from an oak aged beer. Overall quite good nonetheless.

Taste- Again, lots of caramel sweetness and malt up front in the palate. This is followed closely with vanilla and oak for me but much less of the fruitiness that I picked up in the nose. Perhaps just a touch of candied dates, but quite a nice accent. Overall, quite nice and well rounded. Not terribly complex I felt given the aging, but excellent regardless and a standout from a brewery that puts out great beers. Would probably be a good candidate for aging but was already smooth and great tasting fresh.

Mouthfeel/drinkability- This is where this beer really hits it out of the park for me. The mouthfeel on this is silky smooth coming out of a bottle. The oak aging really rounded the the mouthfeel out and masks the booze quite nicely, making it almost undetectable. As a result, this fairly big brew is dangerously drinkable and if it weren't for the 14 dollar price tag, it wouldn't be hard to put back a couple pints. Excellent.

Overall, comes with my high recommendation. The best Sam Smith beer I've had and deceptively drinkable. If you can find this one, I'd say buy one for the experience, though I don't know if I'll be getting more given the price tag. (2,077 characters)